Interview with Spacenus CSO Lionel Born

FabSpace Darmstadt had the chance to have a short interview with Lionel Born from Spacenus GmbH on their recent joint Hackathon in Darmstadt. He describes the cooperation with FabSpace from a Startup perspective.

1. Could you shortly introduce yourself and your company?

Spacenus is an EO start-up. We develop algorithms and digital tools which help to make farming more efficient. One of our services derives high-precise fertilization recommendations for farmers and the agricultural industry from satellite images. Another one monitors the size and changes of arable lands from space and provides those information via APIs. My co-founder has year-long experience with the use of satellite data in agriculture. I come from the software development direction with a huge passion for entrepreneurship. Together with our team we form a very passionate company.

2. You recently co-organized a Hackathon together with the FabSpace network in Darmstadt. What was the idea behind it?

The idea was to bring some action into scientific ideas for various satellite data specific problems. That worked out perfectly. The participants jumped on the complex problem of cloud and cloud shadow detection. They brought up impressive results in this short time of the hackathon.

3. As a Startup, was it easy to get in contact with FabSpace?

We have met FabSpace in several events already in a casual way. Therefore it was easy, also with the good ideas coming from FabSpace.

4. How did you benefit from the cooperation?

FabSpace helped to structure our idea of this hackathon. They advertised the event and helped us to fill the seats. That was a great help, thanks to their reach and publicity.

5. What was your role and biggest effort?

We contributed scientific help of our data science experts, two days in our meeting room, Pizza and Beer.

6. What was the concrete outcome and what could be achieved in the meantime?

Spacenus came into contact with highly interested people. We got job applications afterwards and will hire two of the participants soon. This is a great success since it is hard for startups to hire qualified people in this sector.

7. Do you think it was a success and why?

It was a success because there was simply not much to loose for us. Working with FabSpace is always fun!